Though they’re on the cusp of a new, post-Sedin era at Rogers Arena, the Vancouver Canucks will go back to the future two seasons from now in honour of their 50th NHL campaign.
After opening up a fan vote to the Canucks faithful to choose the retro jersey the club would don in 2019-20, the team announced Monday that the locally beloved Flying Skate jersey had been tabbed as the winner:
The memorable red and yellow threads — worn from ’85 to ’97 — won in a landslide, capturing 16,454 votes (70 per cent) to beat out the infamous Flying V jersey and the more recent orca design.
British Columbia’s club earned playoff berths eight times wearing the Flying Skate jersey, with the vintage sweater endearing itself to fans as the Canucks came one win away from a Stanley Cup championship in 1994.
The Flying Skate also saw a few club legends skate circles around the league in the red and yellow sweater, most notably Hall of Famer Pavel Bure, who donned the jersey for six of his seven seasons with the franchise — including his back-to-back 100-point campaigns in the early 90s.
Vancouver shifted back towards their early blue colouring in 1997-98, before reverting to their original blue and green colourway in 2007-08.
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